Gemutlich Afternoon
My German girlfriends have a word for it: gemutlich. The state when you’re with friends, have all that you want or need with you, and are in the midst of a big warm cosy. Gemutlich. Ten friends dropped by this weekend for one of our infamous garden party barbecues, absolutely oozing gemutlich vibes. (Inga, consider them chunnelled your way - get well soon!) The talk was deep and caring, light and carefree all at the same time. We taught each other things and read tarot cards and runes for each other. We were a mixed group, Neuro-Linguistic programmers, Bay Area life coaches and neo-pagan folk. Jeff brought the wonderful present of a set of runes, and the pagans started talking about the comparison of tarot to runes and readings were given. Everyone learned how to access their own intuition and their own readings. JBear trotted out his Silicon Valley Tarot. The coaches and the NLP’ers case conferenced and traded best changework tricks and tips. Several of us decided to put out a CD together. Everyone was gently drunk on sunshine, good food, congenial companionship and (for those who gently partook) JBear’s fine Smoking Loon chardonnay, which he buys exclusively for the label but which has turned out to be quite mellow and goes well with chevre on sesame flatbread.
This kind of gathering and these people are a precious gift in my life. Since I have no living blood relatives, I have created “chosen family” around myself that are each one tremendous resources - wonderful people that I have things in common with, who have been through trainings, important change rituals and everyday life with me. Who know things about me and whom I know things about, who have consistently supported each other through both harrowing and uplifting times that few others would understand. One of the women said to me as she left last night: “This is like the tv show ‘Friends’ - only real life, and MUCH better than the tv version. Together we get things accomplished that I never would on my own - we kick ass and support each other like no other group of friends I’ve ever had. This is beyond just a group of friends, this is family. This is beyond family even, because it’s consistently supportive and not at all dysfunctional!” We had a good laugh about that.
I’ve been very careful about who I let into my circle of intimates since the major reorganization of my life in 2000. My chosen family are all dedicated to their own highest health and wellbeing and that of others around them. I no longer tolerate negative people and those who must nay-say every proposal and idea. It amazed me when I discovered how much of my own energy was co-opted by those who were negative. What a waste! Then I realized I could change the situation by just intending that it be so. Once I set my intent, things became easy. Not necessarily easy to do, but easy to make the decision to do. I jettisoned both a marriage and spiritual community that weren’t working for me. I dumped the job that I thought I would devote my entire life to and used those skills in a new profession that both pleases and invigorates me. Today I look back and can’t believe how miserable and energy-deprived I was through the 90’s - and how very little it took to actually change that.
Change is simple, it starts in the mind. You must be completely committed or it won’t work out the way you wish it to. Once that commitment is made, (simple, but often daunting) the real work begins. But by comparison to the consequences of keeping negative situations in your life, the work of change is easy and loaded with benefits. Energy therapy helped me tremendously in supporting the intentions that I chose to work on to change my life. When you pull your energy back to you and stop funnelling it into negative situations, people who were feeding off that energy can become incredibly abusive in the attempt to get you to give that energy back to them. And when emotions ran high and accuasations were flung by such people in my (now former) life, EFT helped me get past my own tendency towards self-abuse by being hypercritical of myself, giving in to low self-esteem and harshly judging my own actions and motives. Tapas Accupressure Technique (TAT) helped me regain my dignity, self-esteem and my original happy-go-lucky personality.
If you’re dealing with problems like this, click the links above to find help for yourself. If you need help, contact either myself or any other qualified Energy Coach to help you. This work will make a night-and-day difference in your life. It has helped me to completely reclaim my Self, my life, and a continuing sense of inner peace.
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